Walking Sticks
by Veilstone
Summary: "Cards are war, in disguise of a sport." - Charles Lamb.


_Detective Inspector Looker,_

_you have been assigned to a new case. Please refer to document S-Pa-38 for further information. You will leave for the target destination tonight; your ticket is attached to this letter. For further questions, call me._

_Best of luck._

_DSU Lilac_

Looker sighed and put down the letter he had found on his desk when he had just been about to leave office. This really was the last thing he wanted right now, but when duty called, the police answered. He put his coat back on the rack and pressed a button to boot up his PC.

He already had some idea of where his new assignment would take him. S-Pa, those were the first letters of the document name, and that was Pastoria City's regional code. Sinnoh. He hadn't been there in a while.

_*Bleep*_

The monitor flashed to life and asked him for his credentials. He started typing.

L-o-o-k-e-r. The Inspector was used to field work, not office shenanigans. He most definitely wasn't a fast typer.

Enter. Password?

Not very original. A line from one of his favourite books, and the guy from IT had him change a few letters to digitsrecently to improve security.

Looker yawned and opened the database of the International Police. The document in question was soon found. He clicked the icon, and he would've been curious, if he wasn't just so damn tired.

Error. Access denied.

Looker sighed, this was so not what he had imagined his evening to be like. There was a bottle of the finest red wine waiting for him at home, and as it seemed, it would be waiting much longer now. Exasperated, the Inspector clutched his desk phone and punched in a few numbers; an internal call. The IT guy – what was his name again? – picked up after three rings, he sounded about as tired as Looker felt.

"_Blackpool, IT. Can I help you, Inspector?"_

"I have a problem trying to access one of the files my superior wants me to see. Sorry for bothering you this late, but it appears to be an urgent matter. I have to leave for Sinnoh tonight."

"_Not to worry, Sir, it's my job. What document are we talking about?"_

"Right you are, sorry. S-Pa-38."

"_Let me see… Well, I shouldn't be too surprised you're having trouble accessing it, Inspector. You don't have security clearance, and it's not even a close call. This ain't for your eyes, Sir."_

Looker groaned. Just his luck.

"Listen here, Mr… Blackwood, was it? Blackpool, sorry. My superior has specifically instructed me to read that very file. This has got to be a mistake. It shouldn't be too difficult to grant me access now, right?"

"_Sorry, Sir. No can do. Someone has decided that whatever's in there is well above your paygrade and, by the looks of it, well above that of your superior, too. As it is, there is absolutely no way for you to come anywhere near the contents of S-Pa-38."_

After a few seconds of silence, Looker hung up without another word. This wasn't his day. Could it get any worse? He considered dialling another number but decided against it. Damn it, he'd speak to her in person.

The elevator wasn't far away from his desk. He dragged his feet across the room and down the corridor. The modern paintings on the grey walls didn't help his mood that day, though he usually quite fancied them, and he was rather glad to find the elevator empty. Not that he'd expect a lot of people in the building at this godforsaken hour… Was she even still in her office? Either way, his day was ruined already, might as well find out.

*Ding*

The cheerful sound of the elevator bell announcing their arrival on the fourth floor annoyed him. He turned towards the mirror at the back of the elevator, adjusted his shirt and tie, straightened himself and stepped into yet another corridor, a darker shade of grey this time, almost black.

Her office was through the third frosted glass door on the left. The lights were still on. Good. Looker knew his boss wasn't the kind of woman who'd leave the light on accidentally. She was a meticulous person and a mistake like that just wasn't her style, so he felt confident he'd find her behind her desk as usual when he took the few steps towards the door and knocked.

Detective Superintendent Anabel Lilac was about to call it a day when she heard three energetic knocks. Her hopes that it might just be a particularly loud knock on one of the neighbouring doors were quickly disappointed by the tall shadow behind her frosted glass door; besides, she suspected most of her colleagues had gone home an hour ago. The events of the day did not please her, and she had an inkling things might get worse, although she wasn't too surprised by her late visitor. There was no doubt as to who it was, there weren't many tall men with maroon suits working in the building. Most of them would usually opt for something less old-fashioned.

"Inspector Looker. Come in." she said loud enough for the man to hear and waited for him to open the door and step into her office. "Please, take a seat. A cup of coffee? You have quite the trip ahead of you… besides, shouldn't you be on the road already? Your ship's leaving in an hour."

The Inspector didn't say a word until he was firmly seated on one of the slim, black leather seats facing her heavy mahogany desk. His expression was grim – understandably, she thought – but there was nothing to be done about it. She had decorated her office in a modern, minimalistic way that she thought conveyed a sense of order, but commanded authority as well. It usually worked, and her visitors often were intimidated enough, but not with him… never with him. He seemed completely immune to such trivial things.

"Hm. Why not?" he grumbled, "I wouldn't mind a cup."

Lilac got up and walked over to her fully automated coffee machine. Every time she looked at it, she remembered how much effort it had taken her to convince the Commissioner to let her have one. One would think the head of the International Police would have more important things to do than to quarrel about the safety risks of a coffee machine, but apparently not. She pressed a button – two cups of espresso – and motioned for the Inspector to speak up.

"First of all," he started, "I would like to express my feelings about this institutions habit of keeping a man from his well-deserved rest. I shall have you know that I bought a fine bottle of Kalosian wine just yesterday and was looking forward to enjoying it with a very nice meal tonight. Furthermore…"

At this point, Lilac interrupted Looker. She had collected the cups from the machine and put them on her desk. "Milk? Sugar?", she asked, sliding one of the cups over to him, "I suppose not, you never take any. Please, Inspector, I know this isn't how you wanted your day to be and I assure you I'm not happy about it either. Still, if you only came here to complain about it, I'm afraid I can't help you. In any other case, I'd like you to cut to the chase, Looker."

"As you wish. I shall be brief. This document… S-Pa-38. You wanted me to read it."

"Yes, and did you?"

"No. I can't even open the damn thing. I'm not authorized. What kind of top-secret stuff were you trying to get me into, Lilac?", he said calmly, and only a twitch in his eye gave away how irritated he was.

Now that was an unexpected turn of events. She had personally read it just two hours ago. It didn't have _any_ kind of restrictions back then, and why would it? It was ugly, for sure, but nothing outlandish.

"Not authorized?", she asked, slightly startled. Instinctively, she knew something was very wrong. No one would restrict access to a file on accident, surely – the process of doing so was a tedious one. She opened her own notebook and entered her password. Her eidetic memory allowed her to use completely random sequences of numbers and letters, and IT security loved her for that. If anyone ever cracked one of the institution's notebooks, it sure as hell wouldn't be hers.

When she tried to open the document, all she achieved was a loud beep and a flashing error message that confirmed everything Looker had told her.

"Quite… extraordinary." she commented, trying not to show her own bewilderment. "This must be a mistake. I'll get to the bottom of it and find a way to transmit it to Pastoria City. Your orders stand, Inspector. You will board your ship in about… 40 Minutes. If you take one of our Staraptors, you should be able to make it in time. Pick up your emergency luggage at the port."

Of course she knew Looker didn't believe her calm expression for even one second. It was obvious he disliked the situation as much as she did, but he seemed to understand there was nothing he could do but to obey her orders.

"Fine. Tell me then, what's this whole fuss all about? What's so important that I have to scrap my evening plans in favour of some shady investigation?"

"Not here. Not now." she replied, "You never know who's listening. There's a reason the protocol asks us to deliver our instructions through secure channels rather than just chatting about them openly. I know you're not a fan of protocols, Looker, but I assure you there's a reason for handling things the proper way rather than just winging it. Now please, for the love of Arceus, get out of my office and do you goddamn job."

Looker sat silently for a couple of seconds, then he emptied his cup, pulled a silly face, got up and swiftly walked out of the door without another word.

"VERY MATURE, LOOKER!" Lilac shouted after him, knowing fully well he didn't listen. Inspector Looker was, good – very good – and unfortunately, he was very aware of it. He knew she wouldn't fire him just for being a pain in her neck, and he knew how to play that card to his advantage. Incredibly annoying.

Inspector Looker wasn't happy when he left his bosses office. Sure, he had a smug smile on his lips, but only because he silently congratulated himself on making her lose her temper. It was a subtle form of psychology, he thought: If he would act up and tick her off every time she'd do something he didn't like, eventually, she was bound to stop doing things he didn't like. He was sure he'd read something like that in some book written by some smart guy. Freud? No, not Freud.. Tchaikovsky? No, no, very wrong. But wasn't it a Russian?

He hadn't figured it out by the time he left the elevator. He knew that there, in the basement, there was a room that held Pokéballs of 20 of the finest Staraptor ever bred, specially trained to deliver any member of the International Police to any city of the region. It was ironic, Looker thought – those birds were imported from Sinnoh, but couldn't get him there. The distance was too much for the birds to handle. Flying him to the port, however, was a piece of cake for them.

He turned around the last corner of the corridor, opened the door and entered.

"Inspector Looker. Good evening" the aviarist greeted him. He didn't know her well, but it was her job to look after the Staraptor and keep them ready to fly, that much he knew.

"Evening." he replied bluntly, "I need one of your birds. For the port, right now."

Her answer caught him by surprise: "Sorry, Inspector. I'm afraid all of the Staraptor are currently out. There's nothing I can do for you. Of course, you can always wait, and I'm sure one of them should be back by tomorrow mor…"

"ENOUGH!" Looker cried, his face now red with anger. Was the whole universe out to ruin this evening just for him? "It's nearly midnight, lady. There is no way in HELL that all of them are out at this ungodly hour. Twenty people on a night flight, eh? And none of them back until tomorrow morning? Quit the crap and give me a GODDAMN bird."

The aviarist was visibly uncomfortable now. "I'm sorry, Inspector. There is nothing I can do for you. I'm going to have to ask you to leave now." she said, shifting in her seat. Looker didn't believe it. Breathing heavily, he thought about simply taking the three steps to the aviary to see if there were indeed no birds, but then… Why would he? This all really wasn't his problem. He was just going to let Lilac handle the matter.

A new plan took form in Lookers mind.

Assumption 1: Looker had to go to Sinnoh to have his evening ruined there.  
Assumption 2: To get to Sinnoh, Looker had to get to the port in less than half an hour.  
Assumption 3: At the moment, that seemed impossible due to the bird lady not letting him have a bird for unknown reasons.

Conclusion: Looker was unable to go to Sinnoh tonight and would have to postpone the investigation.

He turned around and left the room without another word.

* * *

In her office, DSU Lilac was facing the window, looking down on the park behind the police building. No matter how she looked at it, there seemed to be something very wrong about this whole affair. A document, open to just about anyone within the International Police, suddenly disappeared behind a digital fortress of secrecy – she tried very hard, but there was no way for this to be an accident. She had a call to make, but to whom?

She turned around, sat down behind her table and began to massage the tip of her nose with her fingers. That was one of the things she was known for, a tell-tale sign that her sharp brain was working overtime. Reaching into one of the drawers, she produced a wooden box.

One of the perks of being high up in the ranks of the International Police is that one could occasionally indulge in minor crimes without having to worry too much, such as smoking illegally imported tobacco in closed rooms. The bright flame of her match touched the tip of her unusually long and slim cigar, she inhaled and blew a cloud of thick smoke into the room.

The room was dark, she had turned off the lights and her desk phone. She didn't want to be disturbed now, and no matter who she decided to call, she would certainly not do it with that thing. Only the faint light from the outside and her monitor illuminated her office, enough for her to see, but not enough for anyone else to assume she'd be inside. Another drag from her cigar, another cloud of smoke – she watched as it disappeared into the ventilations slits at the ceiling.

Had the smoke been sentient, it would most certainly have been surprised when it slipped through the small slits. It passed by a tiny and most curious device – at the first glance, it certainly looked like a poor insect, less than half an inch in length, that had been trapped in the ventilation system, but at closer inspection, one would've seen it was entirely mechanical. A masterpiece. It sat there in silence, watching, listening, and most importantly: transmitting. When the clouds threatened to obstruct the view, the device came to life, using its tiny wings to find a new place to sit.

* * *

Hundreds of miles away from Lilac's office, there sat a man who was not happy. He had just been informed of recent developments.

He thought about the good old times where case files were written on paper. In modern times, information travelled much faster, too fast to control. Of course, their own methods had adapted, too, but the eventual slip had always been inevitable. And now, on this evening, it had finally occurred. The wheels of bureaucracy had turned faster than expected, and the information was out. Several minutes ago, a distorted, mechanical voice had informed him that DSU Lilac had sent her most trusted Inspector to investigate. He wasn't surprised, of course, he had seen her name in the protocols when he had put that damned file on virtual lockdown only minutes after its creation – there were only a handful of people on the planet who could read it now – just a few minutes too late. The protocols were clear: she had already read the document.

She wasn't stupid. Following the protocol by the letter, she hadn't told the Inspector about the case, insisting he'd read it from the case file directly. She was obviously aware of the possibility of her office being bugged, but in this particular case, her silence was working in his favour. He already knew the contents of the file, and Looker did not. He was intent on keeping it that way.

Now on the defence, he had sent one of his own assets, equipped with a micro-drone and a CryptComm device to keep him updated. It was as easy as falling off a log to insert the tiny spy gadget into almost any location. So far, he had done everything he could to slow down their efforts, he was playing for time. Inspector Looker wouldn't have access to any of the police's birds which they used for short distance transport, and without them, there was no chance in hell he'd catch the last boat to Sinnoh.

Granted, the situation was dangerously close to spiralling out of control, but he was pleased with his early success. One night was a lot of time to prepare for the events to come. He picked up his own CryptComm and dialled a short number to make further arrangements. Time was of the essence, and he wouldn't waste any of it.

* * *

Anabel Lilac had just gotten up, walked over to her cupboard and unlocked it with her fingerprint. Left thumb, as always, though her right thumb had also been programmed into the security system as a backup plan. One never knew just what would happen to any limbs one had in her business. The cupboard beeped and snapped open, and she took a black cell phone from the bottom drawer, still puffing on her cigar.

She still wasn't sure who to call. There weren't many people who could still access the file, and one of them had obviously classified it. There had to be someone she could trust. The Commissioner, perhaps. He was the logical choice, of course. But whoever was eager to keep the document hidden was obviously very well informed and had been aware of its existence almost as soon as it had been uploaded, and that would suggest someone within the organisation. It was only by chance that she had seen and read it in time.

She was still puzzled. No one would have looked twice. The file was innocent enough, and she couldn't figure out why anyone would hide it – unless if they were the perpetrator and tried to hide their steps. But it didn't seem like the kind of crime someone with that much power would be involved in – to what end? Nothing made sense, but something was very, very wrong.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp knock on their door, and before she could even look up, Looker had already let himself in.

"No can do, boss. All the birds are out, I've officially missed my boat and it's not my fault. I intend to go home and enjoy my wine, if there are no objections." he said, not bothering to take a seat.

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "It's almost midnight. How could the birds be out? All twenty of them? Listen, Looker, this is not the time or place for silly lies and excuses."

The Inspector did not seem impressed at all. "This is no excuse. I'm telling you, I went down to the aviary, I met the bird lady, and she herself told me that there's not a single Staraptor left at the base right now. A taxi won't make it in time. I can't go tonight, Lilac, but I'll go tomorrow in the morning if you just let me go home and get some rest now. Please?"

His sarcastically overdrawn puppy face made her even angrier than she already was. "We're going down to the basement right now. This has got to be a mistake, no one's working that late, and certainly not twenty of us."

Looker groaned and followed her out of her office. She hadn't extinguished her cigar, and the clouds of smoke left a clear trail, a trail that was now being followed by a tiny metal mosquito that recorded every bit of their conversation.

"You're dead-on, boss. No one's working that late and neither should we. I don't care if you do, I don't even care about you smoking inside – by the way, that cigar looks pretty illegal to me – but I definitely don't want to. Let me go home and I won't report your transgressions to the Commissioner."

"You won't do that either way. You're not going home." she said briskly.

"You're right, I think you're cute when you break the rules. You should do it more often."

The elevator arrived at the basement once again, and its three passengers made their way down the corridor. To their surprise, they found the door to the aviary locked. "Odd." said Lilac and swiped her keycard to unlock it. They heard the lock click and she opened the door, or at least she tried.

"Bolted from the inside," she quickly concluded. "The aviarian hasn't gone home. She's still inside, no doubt."

Both knew that some of the rooms of the building were equipped with reinforced steel doors and a bolt that could only be closed, or opened, from the inside. A necessary precaution, their fight against organized crime forced them to consider the possibility of an attack on the building, and even if no one had been stupid enough to try such a thing yet, no one disputed that it was a good idea to have safe rooms. The aviary in the basement was one of them and getting inside now was just about impossible.

"I suppose a friendly knock would not persuade the woman to open this door?" Looker said, his voice dripping with cold sarcasm.

"What on earth has gotten into her? I swear, this will have dire consequences. For now, I will have to assume that not everyone is friendly to our cause. Someone does not want us to take a closer look on this matter." Lilac replied, ignoring Looker's sarcastic tone. He had obviously come to the same conclusion.

"Which means," she continued, "that I'm hellbent on doing so. You're going tonight, and I will not rest before I get my hands on that file again."

"You seem to forget the obvious issue at hand. Transportation waits _inside_ this room. Even if I had one of the birds, my chances of catching that last boat are slim by now. Whoever is responsible for these things has won for tonight, Lilac. Let's go home, get rest, and strike tomorrow."

"You underestimate my power.", his superior stated matter-of-factly.

"Don't try it, Anabel!" Looker cried dramatically before switching back to his usual indifferent expression. "Seriously. I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about."

DSU Lilac smirked, partly because of his near-perfect response to her reference, partly because of what she was about to do. "I have a call to make, Looker. You will wait for me in the elevator. I do not appreciate this kind of suspicious events interfering with my investigations, and someone is about to learn that."

Puzzled, Inspector Looker did stay in the elevator after they went up again. His boss entered her office, not noticing the passenger that was now hiding in a fold of her black tie. Its controller did not intend to miss out on whatever stunt the woman was planning to pull of now.

She put out her cigar in a hidden ashtray in one of her desk drawers, reached for the slim phone she had retrieved from her cupboard before and dialled a number.

In the meantime, Inspector Looker was waiting. What on earth was she doing? Who was she calling? His first guess was some friend of hers, perhaps someone with a fast bird Pokémon, but he had discarded it with a glance at his wrist watch. No Pokémon was fast enough to get here and then get him to the port in time. He was sure she knew that as well. The elevator still reeked of smoke, but he didn't mind. He enjoyed a cigarette every now and then as well.

The elevator doors opened with a chime, and she came back inside. "Transportation will be here momentarily," she said with a smug smile, "the rooftop, please, liftboy."

Still puzzled, Looker pressed the top button and immediately felt the elevator moving upwards. It passed the top floor and finally came to a sudden halt, chiming again. The doors slid open and revealed exactly what Looker had expected: absolutely nothing. The rooftop was empty as always, except for a few tables and chairs at the far side. Sometimes personnel would come up here during lunch breaks, enjoying the view while eating something or drinking a coffee.

"Am I to travel by chair, Ma'am?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Patience," she said, "any minute now."

And then he heard and saw it almost at the same time. The silence of the night was broken by the powerful chopping of a rotor, and just moments later, he saw the pitch-black helicopter descend onto the roof. The floor started to vibrate, so did the tables and chairs. Had they not been screwed into the roof for security reasons, they would've become deadly projectiles. Few seconds later, the helicopter had touched down.

"I present to you, your lift to Sinnoh. We won't need a boat now, will we?", Lilac said, obviously pleased with herself.

"How on earth did you…", Looker said, but he was cut short by his boss. "No time for explanations. Get in. The pilot knows where you're headed."

Awestruck, Looker felt like he had no choice but to obey. He walked over to the massive helicopter – there was room for far more than just one person in the back, he noticed – but the pilot motioned for him to join him in the cockpit.

"Welcome on board!" he said once Looker had climbed into the cockpit and seated himself next to the pilot. "It is my job to bring your to Pastoria City tonight. You're seated in one of the League's finest airborne carriers. We'll arrive at our destination in about an hour and a half. Please strap in and enjoy the flight. A sickness bag is provided under your seat, if you're prone to motion sickness."

"One and a half hour?" Looker wondered, doing as he was told. "But the cruise ship takes almost seven hours!"

"This ain't no cruise ship, Sir. Ready? Go."

And with that, the helicopter took off. Looker felt sick immediately.

* * *

Lilac, on the other hand, was satisfied as she watched the aircraft depart. All of her tiredness had been swept away, she was on a mission. She was up against the clock, and apparently, against powerful enemies. Time to get that file. She turned around and went back inside, always carrying her tiny passenger.

Again, the CryptComm device flared to life, and the man answered it. He didn't say a word, but a flashing green LED alerted the mini-drone's controller that the line was now open, and he gave a concise report of the events that had just occurred. The man on the other end of the line was not happy with this at all. Again, he had underestimated the resourcefulness of DSU Anabel Lilac.

"Your task remains the same. Keep Lilac under close surveillance. I want to be informed about every significant step she takes. Do not interfere in any other way."

The man nodded in silence as the small LED went out.

* * *

_Author's note: Let's see where this goes. Well, I know, but you don't. Reviews welcome. Updates not regular, through I try not to be too unreliable. I advise to read my other story as well, thought it won't be absolutely necessary to understand the plot right here. It might, however, improve your experience. _


End file.
